Chamber water lock



Jan. 19, 1932. KAMMULLER 1,841,818

CHAMBER WATER LOCK Filed S ot. 19. 1929 Patented Jan. 19, 1932 KARL KAMM'ULLER, OF FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN', GERMANY CHAMBER WATER LOCK Application filed September 19, 1929, Serial No. 393,815, and in Germany June 7, 1929.

Upon sudden increases in demand, the lower chamber of a water lock is required to supply from its contents the increased requirement for water by the works, until the stulm supply, which only gradually accommodates itself to this increased demand, has attained the required speed. The quicker the stulm supply is'accelerated, the smaller Will be the necessary capacity of the chamber. The deeper the lower chamber, the greater will be the acceleration. Also in order to save space the lower chamber, is disposed as low as is practically possible.

The deepest position hitherto employed has been a certain safety height above the outgoing stulm, in order to avoid the entry of air therein.

The present invention is an improvement on the water chamber for which Letters Pat- 0 ent of the United States N 0. 1,7 05,089 were granted to me March 12, 1929 and consists essentially in a simple arrangement for disposing the chamber below the usual height, approximately at the level of the outgoing stulm or even lower and preventing the entry of air into the stulm, in that the chamber is divided from the stulm by a wall under which the water can flow. The invention is illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 represents a vertical section through a Water lock. S indicates the shaft, A the upper chamber, and B the lower chamber. The latter is arranged at the level of the stulm R and is separated therefrom by the suspended sill or wall T which is advantageously indicated as an underflow weir. The channel V below this wall T connects the shaft A or chamber B with the stulm.

Figure 2 shows a horizontal section through the chamber and stulm.

In Figure 3 a modified construction is illustrated. Instead of a concrete wall being employed, the seal between the chamber and the stulm is formed by a portion of rock t which is left in place and through which a channel '0 is driven. The highest point of the channel a must naturally lie at a lower depth than the bottom of chamber B.

In the stulm itself there exists a certain level in the chamber.

The lowest possible position of the lower chamber is determined by the practically permissible value of the pressure in the stulm.

The economy of space that may be obtained depends upon the hydraulic data of the stulm and naturally varies from case to case. Generally it is very substantial, and in the most favourable cases the necessary capacity of the chamber is reduced to a fraction.

The operation is substantially the same as described in the before mentioned Letters Patent. During normal operation the Water in the shaft S is at a height equal to that 01 the water in the reservoir from which the water flows. If the load varies, the velocity of the water in the gallery cannot suddenly adapt itself to the changed demand; the water chamber B then acts as an elastic member, taking up excess of water from the gallery when the load decreases, and letting water pass into the gallery when the load increases, until the velocity of water passing through the gallery has adapted itself to the new load.

I claim:

In a water chamber of the type described, a head shaft, an upper chamber, a stulm, a lower chamber in open communication with the lower end of the head shaft, and arranged at substantially the level of the stulm, and a downwardly extending sill dividing the lower end of the shaft from the stulm so that the lower chamber is at normal pressure and the shaft is at negative pressure.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 3d day of September, A. D.

KARL KAMMULLER. 

